Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-04-11
POPULATION AND FOOD.
REPUTATION OF THE ARGUMENTS
C.e A MODERN MALTHUS.

In Almost Every Country There is Food
| to s,psr.-Why Naiihu-' Doctrine Is no
Longer PIsu-ib!.-Ihe Esrths Food
| Producing Capabilities.
| The current number Of The Forum CON
| tains u SprightIy articI, 10y Thomas ". Knox.
| entitled standing Room Only IL shows
| that several countries IN the world contain 50
many people that they can scarcely walk about
without lo-tllng each other For example,
the statement Is made that Java has 39S IN
hahtants To the square mile. Japan Pa, Italy
2i6 Belgium 4Sl, and the Netherlands 3l2
The author then states that there is hardly Il
country whose population Is diminishing,
while that of most countries Is increasing
with wonderful if not with alarming rapidity
This increase of population is largely due To
the absence of wars and better sanitary CON
ditiuus
Mr. Knox thinks that it is time TO study
tn" philosophy of Malthus. who held that
population, unchecked, increased in geomet-
riCal ratio, while food can only be made TO
increase IN arithmetical ratio. He also argues
that checks on population are absolutely
necessary, and claims advantages for war,
pcstiience. famine and most of the destructive
vices He states that few Of the countries in
which there is standing room only can pro-
duce foo,. enough for the inhabitants, and
shows by official census tables that the num-
Der Of these countries Is increasing very
rapidly He preiictS that our own will be
added 10 the list Of nverpoTulated countries
in no very distant future. At present few of
the original thirteen states produce food
enough to supply all the inhabitants. The
line that divides the states that do not pro
duce food enough for the people from those
that do Is constantly moving farther west.
No CAUSE FOR ALARM
This modern Nautilus has no cause for
alarm: In almost every country in the world
there is food enough and to spare. In nearly
every land food producers are discouraged
by overpruiuctiun. At one time farmers
found no fault with prices. hut complained
because they could raise but little Now they
complain of low prices and find fault because
much is produced English papers state
that there was never a time i'll The history OF
the country when days wages would pur-
chase 50 much food During last year sugar
sold for penny pound, and many farmers
used it as II condlment or food for cattle and
pigs. Fresh herrngs sold III London markets
for halfpenny each, and the poorest labor
ers ate white bread, oranges and bananas.
During several months SmaH fruits were SO
cheap that they commanded only a nominal
price, and some farmers and gardeners used
them 10 fertilae their land. One vessel
brought 5000 carcasses of frozen mutton
from one of the Falkland islands where it
was bought for penny pound. Two steam
ship companies paid penny buShel for the
privilege of carrying wheat in bags from
American 10 English ports, 50 that the grain
of civilization was cheaper in Liverpool than
in Baltimore. The price of farm products is
SO low in Great Britain that the owners OF
several large estates declare that they can re
alize more from them game preserves than
as cultivated farms
The truth is. the doctrine of Malthus is an
exploded humbus. 1t was plausible theory
ar the time he wrote. but the introduction of
machinery on farms, the Use of steam in agri-
culture, the Improvement i'll breeds of AMI
mails, the utilization Of products formerly
wasted, the new methods of preserving fruits.
vegetables. meat and fish. and last, but most.
the increased speed of vessels and the low
rates for carrying all kinds of articles intended
for food. have produced revolution and de-
stroyed the philosophy OF the pessimist of the
dinner table We hear of coal famines and
water famines, but there are no food famines
anywhere, and there is no prospect of any.
FOOD PRODUCING CAPABILITIES.
We have hardly begun 10 test the food pro
ducing capabilities of the earth. A German
traveller declares that Siberia is capable of
producing grain enough u supply all western
Europe with bread. An English authority
states that wheat was worth but ten cents a
hilshel in the interior of Asiatic Turkey last
year and that many farmers did not find it
profitable to harvest their fields The island
of Hayti is capable of producing enough yams
and bananas To feed y, ,OOO, 900 people. Hardly
any portion of Africa except the narrow val
ley of the Nile has been brought under culti-
vation. But an .lsigniiicant part of Aus
tralia has been devoted to the production Of
food. South America In the opinion of
Humboldt, is the grand division of the earth
capable of producing the most food; still a
large portion of it remains unexplored, and
no good farming is done in the parts that
have been longest settled Ii could be made
not only the granary but the stock yard for
supplying Europe with food. Wild cattle
are almost as plentiful there as rabbits are in
Australia, and thousands of them are killed
every year for their hides and tallCw. Sheep
are raised with scarcely any care, and pigs
turned into the forests become fat on nuts ami
wild fruit. No believer in Malthusian phil
oso,hy ever visited South America
By selecting breeds of animals that mature
early, and constantly supplying them with
suitable food. steers are made to weigh as
much when they are thirty months old as they
formerly G.i at twice that age. By the gen
eraI introduction of the siiO the beef and
mutton PRODUCTION of this country could be
doubled, even If no more land was devoted to
raising fodder crops. Our countryman, Seth
Green, originated the expression water farm
inC," and demonstrated that an acre of water
was capable CT producing much food as an
acre OF land. Experiments show that German
carp can be raised at about half the price of
the cheapest meat, and the prospect is that
most of our small lakes and artificial ponds
viii soon be utilized for the production Of
food the same as they are il China and Japan.
Food producers everywhere are crying for
more mouths TO feed. SO that they can get a
better price for what they raise But the
prospect is that the cost of nearly every kind
OF food will continue to decline, even if the
population of tie earth is doubled.-Chicago
Times.
y The Law in Michigan.
Advance AGENTS of theatrical companies
have to bo cautious how they bill Michigan
towns Ii law OF the state is very particular
as to the kind of pictures displayed, and
reads: ''No sign, picture, painting, or other
representation of murder, assassination, stab